And the skeletons dance
by I always smile
Summary: If you look past all the laughter and smiles, you'll find a skeleton in my closet. I'm always trying to keep it locked up but it's always getting out—the laughter and tears in a group scarred friends. High school AU.
1. Chapter 1

**And the Skeletons dance**

**By: I always smile**

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**Chapter One**

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**19th June, Saturday, 5:23 PM**

_Crash! Boom! Doom! Crash! Hiss! Honk! Boom! Crash! Punch!_

"That all ya bastards got? Hah?" Natsu scoffed, kicking the blue haired leader. What was his name again? Dora? Sora? Nora?

"Retreat, men." He choked out, running away as fast as he could.

Oh, silly me! I didn't exactly tell you what's going on, now, did I? Well, let's just say Natsu saw this girl wearing his school's uniform get attacked by some scumbags. And he saved her; he was itching for a fight, you see.

"Are you stupid or something?" he asked the blonde, finally turning to her.

"I'm sorry."

"WHAT DID YA- oh…. it's okay." Natsu shut up when he realized she said sorry. He was an idiot, and he knew it; thanks to the _heartless_ monsters he called his 'friends'.

He had a good reason though. Usually, even if he did just save their asses, no one from Fairy High would take his insult without spitting one back. Now wasn't Blondie different?

He took a better look at the girl who was on the floor. She looked about Natsu's age. She was pretty, he noted. Her knee was bleeding and her ankle looked a bit swollen.

Who the hell would hurt such a nice girl? Natsu immediately made the decision that he would most definitely beat that person up. Wait a second…

...

…

…

He did just beat them up.

"Hey, are you alright? You're bleeding." He asked her.

She smiled weakly in response. "Yes, I'm fine." She reassured, mumbling something afterwards.

"What?" Natsu asked in confusion.

"Nothing" She said, trying to stand up. He offered her his hand, yet she refused. Once more, she failed in her attempt to stand…

Phew, Natsu caught her.

"You are_ not_ okay. We should get your ankle looked at."

"No, it's fine. I was just going home anyway; it's not far from here." She said, smiling up at the pinkette.

"Then I'll walk you home." Natsu said in a voice full of authority.

**19th June, Saturday, 6:17 PM**

The little building Blondie lives in is very close to Natsu's house. In fact, he lives just around the corner. The door of her apartment looked so tiny; something tells Natsu that the rest of her apartment is too. Not that his place is any bigger than hers. Though his cousin Gajeel lived not that far away (next door as a matter of fact), and the older boy had a habit of entering his house (Natsu really shouldn't have given him the spare key) and setting up pranks. He is _so _annoying. Not as annoying as Gray, but still very annoying. Let's just say it's _torture_ to live near 'Screw man', and even the thought of living with 'droopy eyes' was _hell._ Finally, they arrived at the girl's door, so she got off Natsu's back and started searching for her key in the small bag strapped around her body.

Oh, did I mention he was carrying her on his back? She was having trouble walking, so Natsu gave her a piggyback ride, her face was all red and stuff.

She finally found her key, opened the door, walked inside, thanked Natsu, closed the door in his face and went inside.

Weird chick- Oh, wait. He doesn't even know her name.

**21st June, Monday, 1st period**

Blondie had homeroom with Natsu.

BLONDIE HAD HOMEROOM WITH HIM! HOW CAN SHE HAVE HOMEROOM WITH HIM?! HE KNOWS EVERYONE IN CLASS! Well, everyone except the weird, not to mention kinda pretty girl he's been calling Blondie in his head. Well, back to the matter at hand. (Since he was an idiot, it would just confuse him if he tried to think about two things at once.) HOW COULD HE NOT NOTICE HER?

_Craaaaaaaaaaaaaaang!_

The bell rang, which meant class was over. Mr. Clive (a.k.a Gildarts) had left, students following his lead. Blondie walked out of class.

"Oi, Popsicle."

"What?"

"Who's that blonde chick?"

"Dunno, why do ya care, Hothead?"

"I've never noticed her before."

Out of nowhere, Logan and Norm butted in.

"Oh, Lucy Heartfilia finally caught your eye, Natsu?" Logan said.

"Huh?"

"Give up, buddy. She's _really _creepy. You don't want to be caught hanging around her." Norm added, stuffing his things in his bag.

"What do ya mean? Explain." Gray seemed interested in her.

Logan looked around. "She joined school just a few days before the summer break. As you can see, she's all cute and stuff, so guys immediately began hitting on her. Even the tri-men tried, but she's like anti-social or something. She's always paying way too much attention to the classes and she's always in the library during the breaks. She sits alone during lunch, keeping her nose in her book. She's not in any after-school activities and is always busy after school or during the weekends. Not even the girls hang around her. I mean, she's just a creep. A hot, antisocial creep, but doesn't change the fact though."

"Well, that's just stupid." Natsu practically growled. He talked to her just yesterday and she seemed pretty nice. "Just cause she's weird, doesn't mean you shouldn't try to be her friend." Oh come on, everyone, _everyone_ in school had to be at least a bit creepy if not a lot.

The raven haired 'stripper' agreed. "You said it, Flame brains!"

Yep, they both decided to approach the blonde at lunch.

**Lunch Break**

Natsu sat down next to Lucy at lunch. She looked at him with surprise at first then shock. How did Natsu know you ask? He knows because her eyes went like from normal to the size of dinner plates.

"Y-you're the one from…"

"Yeah, I'm Natsu by the way."

"Natsu, I'm so sorry about yesterday and thank you again. I really should've…" Boy, she was speaking way too fast.

"Nah, we're good, Lucy." he grinned at her. She blushed for no apparent reason. "We have homeroom together and I noticed you today and realized I never talked to you before and…"

Gray joined them, punched Natsu's arm, then took the sit next to him.

"Hey Lucy, my name's Gray, Gray Fullbuster. Nice to finally talk to ya, I'm in homeroom with you and Hothead this year."

"Hello, Gray. It's nice to meet you too."

And right on cue, the Strauss Sisters walked in, Juvia and Levy right after them. After a while, Erza appeared dragging Jellal and Gajeel by their ears.

They all came right up to Lucy's lone table in the corner and started to fight and chat and giggle and laugh and gossip all at the same time.

Was Lucy surprised? Oh, heavens no. she was _astonished_. A few months in school without any friends then one day out of nowhere some really weird and freaky but fun (and a bit cool) people sit with you and act like they've known you for I don't know…. _forever_. Wouldn't you be shocked?

Oh well, Lucy wasn't _that_ weird. She was normal, almost _too_ normal for this crazy academy. But she didn't like being alone, no one likes that. So, she was pleased to see people sitting with her and introducing themselves to her. It gave her a chance to make friends. So, who were the people she acquainted today?

The pink-haired guy, who approached her first, who also happened to save her from some *cough* Fucking Assholes *cough* and carry her home due to her hurt ankle, was Natsu Dragneel. He had Homeroom, Math, Chemistry and PE with her. He happened to be a very happy-go-lucky and cheerful person and complete and hopeless idiot; possibly the biggest idiot in the school-no scratch that-probably the biggest idiot in town.

Next was Gray Fullbuster, a raven haired boy with a very, _very_ weird habit of stripping without even knowing. He happened to have Homeroom and Art class with her. He's also known for his rivalry/friendship with Natsu. The two best friends always fought; until Erza stopped them that is.

Erza Scarlet, the student council president more popularly known as Titania, is attending her junior year of high school. She is the _scariest_ person in the group. She has a habit of threatening people, but she can be really nice too. She loves cake, stopping fights between the boys and her childhood friend. Oh, but let's save that for later. Her reason to always hang with the group was to keep an eye on the guys at first, but soon she became friends with these 'goons' (as she dubbed it) and started hanging with her younger classmen.

Next let's touch the certain childhood friend whom Erza loves *cough* in the romantic way *cough* so much. Jellal Fernandez happened to have bright blue hair and a scarlet (same color as Erza's hair) colored tattoo across his face. And it's so obvious he returned her feelings, he just was too dense to notice that Erza did like him.

Mirajane a.k.a Mira was Erza's second best friend. A sweet girl who was into matchmaking. And it was so obvious that Lucy found that out in 5 minutes. Oh yeah, she was as scary as Erza when she was mad. (Levy whispered that part to Lucy; she is still having trouble believing.) Her little sister, Lisanna, was also very much like her sister, if you cut out the scary part. Lisanna wasn't scary.

Then Juvia the creepy girl who declared her as love rival the moment they met. She is very, very serious about her Gray-sama. If you still didn't get the picture: she is in love with Gray.

And of course, Levy and Gajeel. There was absolutely no doubt that Levy was going to be a very close friend of Lucy's. A fellow bookworm is always appreciated. Gajeel, Natsu's cousin/#2 rival was very punk-ish, with piercing and that kinda stuff, but had a soft side for Levy and _Levy only_.

_What a weird group of people_, Lucy thought. This group didn't only have sophomores like her, but some juniors as well, but they look like they belong together. How weird! How can such a group of completely different people make such a perfect set of friends? Who knows how they became friends? She was a part of them now, wasn't she? Of course she was, if she wasn't why would they ask her to meet them at the gate of the school so they can walk home together. Wow, in one day the lonely, creepy and weird geek Lucy Heartfilia made 9 friends.

What a day!

**After school**

3: 26 PM.

The entire gang was walking home together. They looked like a mini parade. Natsu, Gray and Gajeel shouting about which character from One Piece was stronger; Mira, Erza and Jellal were discussing something about class; Juvia staring dreamily at Gray; while Lucy talked with Levy and Lisanna.

Lucy didn't really know much about teens her age, so it was fun for her to be all care-free, talking about shops and clothes and music. Soon, one by one most of the gang began to leave. Erza and Juvia left for the dorm they lived at first. Jellal set for his apartment right after. Lisanna, Mira and Gray lived across the block, they knew a shortcut. So off they went. And Gajeel decided to walk Levy to her house (not because he was possessive, OKAY? He was not possessive of the shrimp. You get it? … Good.) So it was just Natsu and Lucy.

"I can't believe Gray thinks Ao-kiji is the strongest none mugi-wara character! It's definitely Ace!"

"Can't you and Gray just get along?"

"No freakin' way! Do you know what he told me in math?"

"What?"

"Macao was giving us homework and Gray … but damn, the assignment is so hard! I'll never get it done, stupid Macao and math!" He complained. Lucy couldn't help but giggle, Natsu had such a one track mind. Wasn't he supposed to tell her what Gray said to him in Math?

"Natsu, try first."

"I don't wanna."

Lucy sighed.

"Why don't you come to my place and I can help you out."

"Really?!" He had stars in his eyes. "You'd help me?" Lucy nodded.

"You're the best, Luigi." He threw his arm over her shoulder and gave her a one-armed hug. Lucy only blushed and shook her head before…

"IT'S LUCY!"

"Hehe, sorry, Loopy."

_Smack!_

"IT'S LUCY! LU-CY!"

"I was just joking, Luce! Did you have to smack me that hard?"

Natsu learned one thing during that conversation; Lucy really wasn't as timid as most thought her to be.

When the pair arrived in Lucy's apartment, Natsu just walked in like he owned the place. _It's small,_ Natsu thought. Lucy gave him a small tour.

"…This is the living room. That's the kitchen and … my bedroom is that way and there's a small veranda over there."

"Nice place you got."

"Thanks. Oh, and Natsu, would you like some tea?"

"Yeah, that would be great."

"All right then. Why don't you sit down and wait? I'll be there in just a moment."

Natsu didn't listen to Lucy. He just explored the little living room, and then barged straight into the kitchen. He sat down on the counter beside Lucy and watched her boil water. For some reason, Lucy was very embarrassed. She blushed and ignored him. Weird, this chick blushes over everything. The silence was comfortable.

Lucy finished making tea and asked Natsu to follow her to her room. It was a very normal and small room with a bed at the corner, a dresser beside the door, a bookshelf (with a lot of books, no wonder she got along so well with Levy) and a small desk. That's all she had in her room.

Natsu and Lucy drank tea, ate snacks, talked about random stuff and had loads of fun, their assignments left untouched. Whatever, to hell with doing homework; Natsu could just copy Gajeel's, anyway.

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Beta-read by: the ever so amazing **_ClumsyMustache_**

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**YOSH! 1****st**** chapter up!**

**First of all this story is inspired by REAL people. Mainly it's about the friends I made in counseling. Uh… yeah, I'm in therapy…. So Ms. Ayesha said it would be a good idea to write the story of my life and my buddies who are in trouble too. So if you know someone exactly like the person in the story don't be surprised. Also, it's better to not add our ****_entire _****stories. It's a version where we all get our happy endings.**

**Second, this is mainly a friendship story. But of course there will be romance. Because hello? Hopeless romantic here!**

**Well, hope it was a good read! I'd love to hear your thoughts.**


	2. Chapter 2

**26th June, Saturday, 12:07 am**

If you told Lucy that she would break into someone's house, steal something (ahem...she meant take something and leave the money on the counter because the owner would never sell that said 'thing') and then run from the angry guards, she would never believe you. But she is doing just that.

Lucy ran as fast as her legs allowed, realizing that she was in a pinch. A very, _very _big pinch.

Okay fine! She was in trouble. Like 'breaking-in-to-a-place-and-being-caught-stealing- something-precious' trouble. She clutched the bag which held the stolen-I mean the bought without permission, thing closer to her chest.

"YOU'LL NEVER CATCH ME!" Her partner-in-not-crime yelled as if he was enjoying this. The boy proceeded to grab her wrist, pulling her along with him since she was panting and sweating, causing them to slow down. His carefree grin reminded her of why she was doing this in the first place. Returning his smile, she began running with a new passion.

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**And the skeletons dance**

By: I always smile

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**Chapter two**

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**25th June, Friday, 4:22 pm**

"Natsu! It's this way, come on!" Lucy called out to the pink haired teen, who was about to take a wrong turn.

"I-I knew that! I was just seeing uh..uh..if _you _knew the way! Yeah! I was checking to see if you knew the way!" Was his excuse. "Hahahaha, and you thought I was going to get lost! Hahahaha...ha?" His laughed was offbeat, sounding like a question more than anything.

Lucy giggled, "Whatever helps you sleep at night, Pinky."

"E-Eh? What is that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing~ now hurry up!"

"Sheesh, what's the big deal, weirdo? It's a bookshop, it's not like it's a-" Natsu's words died out when he saw the store.

...

Where had this place been all Natsu's life?

It looked more like a castle than a bookstore. "The Magnificent Duke Everlue's Bookshop" was what the huge neon sign read, but Natsu wasn't looking at _that. _The books didn't particularly 'excite' him. His gaze was fixed on the freshly colored white walls! They were just calling out to be vandalized! He was _so _coming back for these walls with Gray and Gajeel. They would make the epicest-

Lucy pulled him out of his thoughts. "Natsu, look at that..."

Natsu followed her gaze, seeing an old man begging another old man for something. The elder that was begging looked pretty normal; not looking poor enough to be begging for food or money. While the other man, he was...um, I have no words so I'll stick with Natsu's-a freak! He could swear humpty dumpty looked exactly like him. Natsu decided it was hate at first sight. To tell the truth, Natsu didn't care about how people looked. He didn't hate that strange man for his strange looks. It was because the way he treated the other man.

"Please sir, please. It is my father's last work!" The normal looking man begged.

"NO! I paid your father to write that for me! It's mine to keep!"

"I'll pay you! Twice, no, three times the amount you paid my father. It was a horrible book; my father had already gone mad by the time he wrote it!"

"But it's mine! I will not give it away! Get lost, you ugly piece of trash!" He sneered, pushing the man to the ground as he walked inside.

Natsu and Lucy rushed over to the man on the floor, Lucy picking up the items the man dropped while Natsu offered him his hand. "You okay, old man?" Wow, wasn't he the politest thing!

The old man nodded anyway as Natsu helped him to his feet. Lucy handed him his stuff, "Geez, what a freak!" Natsu sent a glare at the house as if _humpty dumpty _could see it.

"You don't want to sell the damn book, then keep it! Don't go pushing old men into roads!" He yelled at the house.

Lucy silently nodded, "Are you sure you're okay, Mister? Maybe we should get you looked at." The man opened his mouth for the first time, saying, "It's quite alright, dear. My name is Kaby Melon." He introduced himself.

"I'm Lucy and this is Natsu."

"Thank you Lucy, Natsu."

"You're welcome." Lucy said, Natsu shrugging in return.

"So, what were you doing with humpty dumpty?"

"Humpty...dumpty..?" Kaby looked confused. "Oh! You meant Everlue?"

"THAT'S DUKE EVERLUE?" Lucy screeched. Damn, she was way too loud.

"Yes." and here Lucy was, hoping he had been some handsome young man...

"So what did you want from him?" Natsu asked and Kaby's expression immediately changed.

"You don't have to answer if you don't want to." Lucy quickly added, noticing his expression. Though she really couldn't deny her own curiosity.

"No, it's okay." Kaby took in a deep breath. "He has the manuscript of my father's last work...he forced my father to write it. If my father refused we were to be sued. Uh, my father wasn't able to pay him the interest on the loan we took from him. So father wrote it, it took him three years. But he had gone mad by then. The story was nothing but bullshit, it was his last and worst work. I heard the duke plans to publish it, but I don't want that. It would demolish my father's reputation as a writer..." Kaby eyed Natsu and Lucy. "If I dare ask, would you two consider doing me a huge favor?"

"Sure, what is it?" Natsu asked. Lucy was a bit annoyed though. Hello Pinky, did you consider Lucy might not agree? Of course not! Lucy's eyebrow twitched a bit. Maybe she's gonna back down...

"I want you to buy that manuscript for me if it's not too much trouble. It's tilted Daybreak. My father's pen name was Kemu Zelaon..."

"NO WAY!" Lucy screeched again and Natsu made a mental note to get his ears checked. He was pretty sure he was gonna go deaf if Lucy kept screaming like that!

"YOUR FATHER IS KEMU ZELAON!" (Yep, Natsu's definitely gonna go deaf if this continues.)

Lucy was in fangirl mod. "I'm his biggest fan in the world! Don't worry about a thing, Mr. Melon. We will do everything in our power to get that manuscript!" Natsu didn't quite like the glint in Lucy's eyes...

**25th June, Friday, 4:38 pm**

"WE ARE NEVER COMING BACK HERE! YOU HEAR? YOU JUST LOST A LOT OF YOUR CUSTOMERS!" Lucy shouted when she was refused (and to think Lucy even used her sex appeal) as she walked out of the door. She turned to Natsu, "What do we do?"

Natsu snickered, (oh how ridiculous Lucy's so called 'sex appeal' was) "I thought you had 'everything under control'." He said in a fake Lucy's voice. Lucy had the urge to send him flying but refused it. She still needed to get her hands on that manuscript. (How many times do you get an opportunity like this? Mr. Melon wouldn't mind letting her read it...hopefully.)

"Help me, pretty please~" She batted her eyelashes at him and Natsu burst into laughter. The urge to punch Natsu was getting harder and harder to fight with each passing second.

"You...hahaha...tried to se-se...hahaha...seduce t-t-that clerk..haha.." He clutched his sides while rolling on the floor, well, sidewalk. Meh, it's still close to ROFL-ing. Make that ROFLMAO-ing. Because it really did look like Natsu was laughing his ass off right now. And that was it! Lucy's patience died, she finally did kick the idiot.

**25th June, Friday, 5:04 pm**

"This is ridiculous!" Lucy was wearing the maid outfit Natsu handed her. And no, Natsu wasn't carrying that in his bag, if you were wondering. It just happens to be that there was a cosplay shop nearby.

"No, it's perfect. Now you can pretend to be a girl who needs a job. Besides, I heard the clerk (it took all Natsu had not to start laughing about Lucy's little stunt) talking to another guy, about how Everlue was looking for a blonde maid. You're blonde and look like you're desperate enough for a job. ("HEY!" Lucy yelled.) You can cook and clean, so you're perfect to play the maid."

Leaving no space for Lucy to argue, Natsu rang the doorbell, hiding behind the mailbox. Playing the maid, huh? Lucy was cute enough to pull it off. Lucy gathered all her cuteness and rang the doorbell again...cutely.

**25th June, Friday, 5:47 pm**

"HOW DARE HE!" Lucy was fuming! "HE DARE SAY _I'M _UGLY? ME?"

Natsu had already done the ROFL - err - ROFSWLMAO part and this time he was kicked then punched then kicked again. This chick is too much of an abuser! So now he was trying his best to choke back the laughter that was coming back with the strength of an elephant.

"WHAT DOES HE KNOW OF BEAUTY? ALL THE MAIDS HE HAD WERE ABSOLUTELY HIDEOUS! I WANNA JUST...UGH!" Apparently Lucy wasn't going to be done with her ranting anytime soon... "..."

Natsu froze, oh gawd! Why was she not rambling aimlessly? Why was she turning around? Why was she looking at him? Why did she look so angry? Why was she fisting her hands-oh shit!

"Natsu..." Why was her voice so cold? "...This is all your fault, isn't it?" Man, she rivals Erza any day.

"Err...no?" He was pretty sure he was about to die, so why not try to live? He had nothing to lose, right?

...

Right?

...

"I'M GONNA KILL YOU, YOU BASTARD!"

**25th June, Friday, 11:47 pm**

"Please remind me why on Earth I agreed to this!"

"Shh, ninjas don't talk. Nin, nin."

Lucy had the urge to facepalm. Even if she ignores the point that they were sneaking in a closed shop like thieves; Natsu was playing the ninja wrong. She has got to make him watch Naruto. Well, he watches One Piece so he wouldn't need the forcing ... wait-why is she making plans to make him watch an anime while they were in a CLOSED BOOKSTORE!

They weren't going to steal the book, mind you! They were just going to take it without the owner's approval and leave the money on the desk. Yep! That's not stealing at all.

Lucy shut up and searched for the book, eyes skimming through the shelves, often pausing on a good book, making a mental note to come back during daylight to buy-oh yeah she said she wasn't coming back again...

"LUCY I FOUND IT. IT'S THIS ONE ISN'T IT!"

"SHUT IT IDIOT WE ARE SUPPOSED TO BE QUIET!"

"WHY THE HELL ARE YOU SCREAMING THEN?"

"WELL SO ARE..." _Oh! _Lucy really was shouting, wasn't she? She was quick to fix her mistake and she whispered, "...sorry. Let's both keep it down, show me the book."

"BUT-" Natsu wisely decided to shut the hell up when he saw Lucy's glare. He quietly handed her the old manuscript. Lucy's eyes widened a bit.

The pages were yellow and worn out with age, the title reading DAYBREAK. Under that, in smaller words were the author's name, Kemu Zelaon.

"This is it!" Lucy whisper shouted. "This is the book Mr. Melon requested!"

"You sure?"

"Yeah, there's no doubt that this is it!"

"Let's get outta here then!" Natsu swiftly ran for the exit, only to find his partner opening the manuscript and start reading it. "What do you think you're doing!?"

"I'll just read the first paragraph...I really can't wait till we get outside." Whoa, whoa, whoa! Back up a bit. She wanted to read a book sitting on the floor of the store they stole it from? What is wrong with this chick? Being the idiot Natsu was, he was unsure of what to do. Let her read the first paragraph? It's not like somebody was gonna find them anytime soon. Or, he could yell at her and drag her along because there was no way some sane person would want to stay there for another second longer.

His thought process was disturbed when the blonde gasped and a hand came to cover her mouth.

"Oh my God! This book..." She trailed off, making Natsu curious. He stepped closer to his friend, only to trip on a book (WHAT KINDA MORON LEAVES A BOOK ON THE FLOOR-wait wasn't it Natsu who left the book open in the first place? ...) and take a damn shelf along with him in his fall.

_CRASH!_

"What was that sound?"

"It came from the store."

"Oh lord! Somebody must've broken into the store! Get the guards!"

_Shit! Shit! Shitty shit! _Lucy panicked. _They heard us! What do we do! What do we-_"Eeeek!" Her thought process was cut off when the pink haired boy rose from the floor, grabbed her hand and ran towards the window to jump out safely. The pair could already hear the distinct but rushed footsteps from behind. _Shit! They realized we got out!_

And that's when they really began running.

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**Hope you enjoyed the chapter! A cookie for everyone who reviews and an extra cookie for any one who leaves constructive criticism.**


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